Sponsoring a conference on measuring the public health and economic impacts of new supermarkets in underserved communities

This grant supports a working conference of experts to assist in developing a plan to evaluate the Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative (FFFI), the goal of which is to increase the number of supermarkets in underserved Pennsylvania communities. The Food Trust will convene 10 experts in public health, economics and measurement to: (1) examine current strategies for assessing the impact of supermarkets on nutrition-related public health and economic development, (2) identify new methods for measuring these impacts, and (3) provide direction for the evaluation of supermarkets funded by FFFI in Pennsylvania. The Food Trust will also schedule a follow-up teleconference to review recommendations and determine next steps, potentially including ongoing guidance for the design, implementation and analysis of FFFI evaluations. The intended outcomes of the conference will be the establishment of: (1) an expert body of researchers that will continue to provide guidance on the evaluation issue, (2) a document outlining the best practices for research of FFFI and similar initiatives, and (3) recommendations for research leading to future proposals.